There are many images we upload to social media that are really scary, and it is not the camera but the eye that takes the photo. The iPhone camera it's a great cameraPerhaps not the best on the market, but you have to know how to use it to get the most out of it.
Great photographers are because they know how to look and take into account a couple of rules that I will show you so that, together, we have some images that we really want to review in a few years.
Activate the grid
The grid is a reference that will help us when making compositions in the images, which helps us to establish important points and also to control horizontality of the images.
An unwritten rule dictates that if you want to draw a nice landscape with gran presence of the horizon you have two great options to do so, if you place the horizon on the lbottom line of grid, you give more importance to the sky and everything in the beech, such as clouds, airplanes, etc. while yes you put it on the top, you give more importance to how you get to that horizon, for example, a beach, a cliff, etc.
To activate it go to Settings > Photos and Camera and here scroll down until you see the option of activate the Grid.
The rule of thirds
While the grid is normally used to align the horizon so that the photos are straight, it actually has another function, which is help us with the rule of thirds.
The rule of thirds it is a principle that helps us avoid static appearance of an image in which the subject is located in the center of the photo. This grid divides the scene into three horizontal and three vertical bands, giving us as a result four points of intersection that we will call force points.
These points are equivalent to the areas where our eyes go to read the image in a general way, so if we put the object in one of them, it will be more striking and will have more character.
Learn when to use HDR
One of the easiest ways to improve the quality of your images is to experiment with HDR, a mode that toggles on and off in the camera app itself.
HDR means High Dynamic Range, and it is a way that artificially improves dynamic range by merging three exposures: one bright, one normal, and one dark.
However What is dynamic range? This concept refers to how well a sensor can adapt so that the lightest and darkest parts of a shot are not overexposed or totally dark. The HDR zooms in on both ends of the brightness spectrum, highlighting details that would be missing when shooting in auto mode.
Avoid using digital zoom
Another tool in the photographer's arsenal is digital zoom, accessed simply by pinching the screen to zoom in and out. However, it is advisable to avoid it since the iPhone just doesn't have the resolution or detail needed to make a viable digital zoom.
Instead of using the zoom, try to get closer to the subject. In addition to improving your focus in technical terms, it is a great option to consider as a photographer, as it allows you to offer more dynamic approaches and it even allows you to choose angles that will make your photo a fresher and more original shot.
Night photos
IPhones can take great photos in good lighting, but is to lower the light level and begin to suffer considerably. Given this casuistry we will only have one alternative.
Use an application that allows manually adjust the exposure time, and use a mini tripod, or place the iPhone on a fixed surface, to avoid blurred images. These exposure times adjust the time the shutter is open thus allowing more light to reach the camera sensor. An example of an application with this feature, and many more, would be Pro Camera 7.
Use filters sparingly
Filters can be very useful, and a fun and easy way to modify photos. My advice is avoid very aggressive filters and only from time to time manually modify the contrast, brightness, carry out transformations or convert the images to black and white vignettes.
There are a ton of apps that offer this type of post-capture processing. You can try Adobe Photoshop Express for free.
Use accessories
The immense popularity of iPhones has brought with it a multitude of photographic accessoriess. One of the most interesting is the Olloclip and of which we did a very interesting review. It is a lens that is placed on top of the native camera lens of the iPhone, and that gives a completely different field of view and increases considerably the visual quality of the photos.
other alternatives They are tripods that allow us to take time to frame, mini-lights to increase the light as a flash, etc.
Share on social networks of photography
Sharing your photos will not make you a better photographer, but it is a good way to get more motivation to continue. Instagram It has a bad reputation since it is often said that it is a compilation of filters and not photos, but it is a very vibrant social network, and that it is based on images as a transmitter of the message.
Try it wherever you want, but share your best shots.
Header image: Charles of the Well
If you want to see how I apply these criteria and many others, my user on instagram is #victormodino
For editing I recommend snapseed and camera +
Good article, I had no idea about the grid, thanks
A pleasure, I hope you improve your photos even more now that you know these little tips, thanks for commenting !!
Hello, I would like to know how to take a photo with the iPhone and use the zoom as they do on instagram so that it looks clearer and better how I do it thanks